


a snowfall kind of love

by thecrackshiplollipop



Series: 12 Days of Julyberry [4]
Category: Glee
Genre: F/F, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-23
Updated: 2014-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-03 02:55:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2835443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecrackshiplollipop/pseuds/thecrackshiplollipop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rachel volunteers to work the night shift during Christmas every year because she's Jewish and a nice person. Only this year she wishes she hadn't volunteered because she would actually like to spend the holiday with, well, they're not technically girlfriends... with Cassie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a snowfall kind of love

_Merry Christmas Darling_ plays every 45 minutes, almost on the dot. Rachel imagines 45 ways to strangle the satellite radio DJ until the song is over and she gets another version of _Silent Night_ , this time by Josh Groban. She wants to be home, or back in Lima with her dads getting ready for the first night of Chanukah, or crashed on Cassie’s couch drinking expensive wine and shouting at Christmas movies. Anywhere that isn’t Pot Pies, Etc., listening to the same Christmas music, sung by different artists, on repeat until morning.

It’s her second Christmas Eve covering the late shift at the diner, just her and Eddie the line cook, serving approximately two customers between the hours of 9PM and 5AM, with a lot of doing nothing the rest of the time. There’s one customer in the diner as Rachel watches the clock tick past midnight to the opening bars of Sarah McLachlan’s _Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas_. Eddie pops his head through the service window with a smile so big his cheeks must hurt.

“Merry Christmas Eve, kid.”

“And a happy Chanukah to you.”

“Oh shit, that’s right. Do you like, need to light a candle? I think I’ve got some tapers from last Christmas back here.”

“It actually starts at sunset today, but thank you.” Rachel says with a laugh.

“Oh, cool. Got any plans once you’re off?”

“Yeah, sleep, and then my dads and I are going to Skype and light the menorah at sundown.” She tries to look busy with the coffeemaker, but she already cleaned it an hour ago and there are two fresh pots of coffee sitting on the warmers, so she drops her hands to her sides and sighs.

“Nothing with the girlfriend?”

“She’s not really,” Rachel waves her hands in the air, “we’re not really… Um. What about you?”

“Family,” Eddie says simply, leaning his forearms on the empty service area. “Kids are home from college, they’re staying at their mom’s but everyone’s coming over for dinner and presents. I’ll probably drop by my sister’s house after work to bring my nieces their presents.”

“What about sleep?”

“I’m off tomorrow night,” Eddie slaps the service counter, making Rachel jump a little. “You’re stuck with Jerry.”

“Ugh,” Rachel groans and grabs the coffee carafe, “you suck.”

“Maybe,” Eddie shrugs and slips back into the kitchen, still grinning widely. Rachel squints in his direction before turning around and marching down the counter to the only patron in the diner; Maria, a 45 year old maternity ward nurse who gets off work at 11 and is always in the restaurant by 11.30, sitting in her usual seat at the counter for her coffee and meatloaf pot pie.

“Need a refill, Maria?” She holds the carafe up, steam rising gently from the opening. “It’s fresh.”

“Sure thing, Rachel.” She slides her cup across the counter and Rachel fills it up.

“Do you have any plans for Christmas Eve?”

“Yeah. Sleep.” She laughs, tiredly rubbing her face with both hands, “and then I’m driving up to Albany to spend the rest of the year with the family. Fredo’s already up there so it’s been kinda lonely down here.”

“Oh,” Rachel puts the carafe down and shifts her weight so she’s leaning against the counter with her hip, “that’s good. You guys deserve a break.”

“You said it. But what about you? Going home soon?”

“Monday, actually.” Rachel smiles and wipes her palms on her apron.

“Working ‘til then?”

“Yup, tomorrow night and Christmas night. Which is fine,” she says quickly, “I don’t celebrate Christmas.” She folds her arms over her chest, watching Maria pour half and half into her coffee.

“Still, it’d be nice to be with family.” She dumps a packet of Splenda into her coffee and levels Rachel with this knowing look. “Or someone you care about.” She knows a little about Finn and was there when Rachel had that weird three month thing with Noah and of course Maria knows about Cassie - everyone who was in the diner when Cassie asked her out the first time knows about the woman. But now she’s looking at Rachel like her dads look at her when she’s being ridiculous and Rachel just wants to flee.

“I um,” Rachel clears her throat, feeling her cheeks flush with heat, “we didn’t have anything planned.”

“Just a thought,” Maria shrugs and taps the edge of her empty plate, “why don’t you get me a piece of pumpkin pie for this fresh cup of coffee?”

“Uh, sure,” Rachel straightens up and heads for the pie display, exhaling gratefully as soon as her back is turned to Maria.

* * *

“I can’t believe you’re just okay with not seeing me until after the New Year.” Rachel scoffs and grabs a handful of peppermint Milanos from the snowman bowl on the kitchen table, ignoring the way Kurt glares at her as she stomps back to her bedroom.

“It’s just Christmas,” Cassie says casually, “you’re Jewish, I’m not religious. And we agreed, no presents.”

“But,” Rachel says as she puts the cookies on her night stand, “it would be nice to spend time together before I leave for Lima.” She flops onto her bed, her frustration with Cassie making it easy to forget how cold it is in her room.

“You work tonight and tomorrow night, and then you’re leaving the next day,” Cassie sounds thoroughly exasperated and it really does nothing to calm Rachel’s ire. She frowns at the floor and flops around so she’s lying on her pillows. “You’ll be home on the second and we can celebrate a belated New Years, how about that?”

“Fine,” Rachel sighs, rubbing her forehead wearily, “I’ll text you later, then.”

“Mmhm. Happy first night of Chanukah, by the way.”

“Oh, you remembered,” Rachel says with a small smile, but then the line goes dead and she has to resist throwing her phone at the brick wall opposite her bed. She settles for glaring at the small silver package sitting on top of her dresser. She considers ripping off the tag that says To Cassie, Love Rachel, but just grabs a cookie and stuffs it into her mouth instead.

* * *

“She’s insufferable,” Rachel says sharply, handing Kurt a styrofoam cup full of cocoa over the counter.

“Then why are you dating her?”

“We’re not official,” Rachel says, suddenly aware of how many empty sugar containers are sitting out. She reaches under the counter for the bulk sugar canisters and starts filling the nearby container.

“Uh huh,” Kurt nods, opening the lid of his cup so he can blow on the hot liquid. “You keep saying that and I keep, just, not believing you.”

“We don’t talk about labels.” Rachel says dryly, eyeing Kurt as she moves onto the next container.

“Okay, fine, but it sure sounds like you’re girlfriends, at least on the nights you guys think I’m not home.” Kurt raises his brows and Rachel blanches, clutching the sugar canister so hard her nails make a dent in the cardboard.

“We agreed you wouldn’t bring that up again,” she hisses, glancing at the patrons sitting in the booths. Everyone is busy with their meals or their menus, but Rachel feels herself flush with embarrassment, anyway.

“Mmhm. Fine,” Kurt waves his hands in surrender. “I will stop bringing up your not-girlfriend status with Crazy July. How was the candle lighting with the dads?”

“Not the same. Electric menorahs are cool, but it’s always better when I’m with my dads.”

“Well, it’ll be the 26th before you know it.” Kurt says distractedly, glancing at the clock over Rachel’s head. “Is that time right?”

“No, it’s a little slow. You’d better hurry or you’ll miss him!”

“But won’t showing up uninvited look desperate?”

“First, you _are_ desperate. And second, he told you you could drop by any time. I was there, he totally meant it. But if you two decide to… you know,” Rachel waves her hands in the air, “do it at his place.”

“That’s hardly fair.” Kurt sniffs, closing the lid on the cocoa before he puts his gloves back on. “Thank you for the cocoa. And, happy holidays, if I don’t see you before you leave for home.”

“You too!” Rachel shouts after him as he disappears outside into the flurry of snow.

* * *

The diner clock tells Rachel that it’s fifteen minutes ‘til midnight, but the clock really is five minutes slow and there are actually ten minutes left until Christmas. But she doesn’t celebrate Christmas, really, and her dumb not-girlfriend doesn’t even care that they’re not spending this not important stupid secular holiday together.

She settles into one of the red vinyl seats at the counter, sorting artificial sweetener packets while a cup of coffee cools nearby. The only patron left ten minutes into Rachel’s shift and Jerry decided to take a nap in the pantry until he was needed. It’s empty, it’s quiet except for the Christmas music station playing softly in the background, and snow has been steadily falling for an hour. If all holidays were this peaceful, Rachel wouldn’t mind covering the late shift.

The door chimes and Rachel quickly sweeps the sugar packets onto a tray before turning in her chair to look at the new patron.

“Hey Schwim,” Cassie says, a little smirk on her face that says ‘gotcha’. She’s standing at the door with snow powdering her hair and shoulders, cheeks pink from the wind.

“Cassie!” Rachel gasps and hops off of the stool, resisting the urge to run across the diner and fling herself at Cassie. She just manages to walk over like a normal, not deliriously happy person. “What are you doing here?”

“I brought some Christmas dinner,” Cassie holds up a plastic bag. Rachel takes it from her hands so she can take off her jacket and hang it from the coat rack by the door. “Don’t get too excited, it’s just some leftover tofurkey and sweet potatoes from that potluck I had to go to last night.”

“It’s better than having another cheese sandwich for dinner,” Rachel leans up and kisses Cassie’s cheek quickly. “Thanks. Go grab a booth and I’ll fix up some plates.”

“Coffee?” Cassie asks as she crosses the diner and finds the booth that has one whole window to itself.

“Of course,” Rachel waves her hand and disappears into the kitchen to heat up the food.

* * *

After dinner there’s pie and for some reason the pies at Pot Pies, Etc. are the best pies in Manhattan. It’s even in the employee contract that each employee can only have _one_ slice of complimentary pie a day. Cassie has never had one of the pies so Rachel lets her have the first bite of a slice of pumpkin pie.

“Oh, wow. That’s good.”

“Mmhm,” Rachel grins and reaches out, swiping a forkful while Cassie rummages through her purse.

“Here,” Cassie says lightly, sliding a small blue box across the table. Not just any blue, Tiffany blue. Rachel almost chokes on her bite of pie, swallowing thickly as she reaches for the box.

“Cassie…”

“I know we said no gifts but this caught my eye.” Cassie waves her hand, dismissing whatever kind of argument Rachel has brewing in her brain. Rachel snaps her mouth shut, giving Cassie this look that seems to be only for her, all warm and soft around the eyes. Cassie rolls her eyes and takes another bite of pie while Rachel slips the white ribbon off of the box.

“Oh,” Rachel exhales, letting a necklace slide out of the blue bag inside the box. She holds it up, a solid gold star pendant hangs from the chain, glittering in the dim light of the diner.

“It’s engraved.” Cassie says. She shifts in her seat, looking down at her plate and swirling her spoon through the leftover dregs of whipped cream. Rachel looks at the pendant where ‘R & C’ is engraved in small cursive font. “You always used to wear those dumb necklaces with your boyfriend’s names on them, so I thought this was… an acceptable alternative.”

“Cassie, I bought those online for like, twenty dollars. This is… It’s too much.”

“No, it’s just enough.” Cassie scoots down in her booth, “come over here so I can put it on you.”

Rachel gets out of her side of the booth and settles down next to Cassie, handing over the necklace before she turns around and lifts up her hair. Cassie slips the necklace around Rachel’s neck and secures the clasp in one deft, practiced move. Rachel lets her hair fall down and turns back to Cassie who reaches out to fix a twist in the chain.

“It’s perfect,” Rachel breathes, not even needing to look down. “Thank you,” she says before leaning in and pressing a quick kiss to the corner of Cassie’s mouth. Cassie runs her hands up the necklace chain and up the curve of her throat until she’s cupping Rachel’s jaw. She pulls her back for another kiss, deeper and longer and with the edge of Cassie’s teeth against Rachel’s bottom lip.

“Oh my god!” Rachel says suddenly, breaking the kiss much to Cassie’s dismay.

“Did I hurt you?”

“No! Your gift!”

“My... gift?” She lets Rachel pull away from her, slightly amused by the panic on Rachel’s face.

“I… well, I left it at home.” Rachel frowns, “I wasn’t expecting a surprise.”

“That’s the whole point of it,” Cassie sighs and sits back in the booth. “It’s alright.”

“No, I was going to drop it off at your condo tomorrow before work but now you’re here and…”

“It’s alright. I’ll just go home with you.”

“I don’t get off for four more hours!”

“Then I guess we have some time to kill.” Cassie raises her brows, but the suggestion misses its mark again and Rachel frowns.

“I guess I can find something on the TV… Hold on,” she says, scooting out of the booth.

Cassie sighs, “not what I meant,” but Rachel is already at the TV, flipping through the stations until she lands on a rerun of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

“This looks promising,” Rachel says, mostly to herself, and returns to their booth, flopping down with a sigh. “How’s the volume?”

“Fine,” Cassie says, shaking her head before finishing off the last cold sip of her coffee.

“You should come home with me,” Rachel says, scooting closer to Cassie until their sides are touching.

“We just went over this, I am.” Cassie shifts so she can loop her arm around Rachel’s and pull her closer.

“Not what I meant,” Rachel rolls her eyes. “Home as in, Lima. My dads would probably like to meet you and…” Rachel bites her lip, “it’d be nice to spend New Years together.”

“Hm,” Cassie tilts her head, “or... we can address this next year.”

“There’s going to be a next year?” Rachel raises her brows.

“Who knows,” Cassie shrugs, “we’ll see.” Rachel smiles and tucks her head against Cassie’s shoulder, the necklace is already a comfortable presence against her skin. Eventually, there will be customers; the night shift getting off of work, ready for a warm Christmas meal and the best pie in town. She’ll be up to her knees in coffee refills and rough, good-tipping men who call her ‘sweetheart’. But all of that is light years away from right now, where she is sleepy, full of holiday food, and in love with an insufferable woman who probably loves her back.


End file.
